Letter of Fr. Peter Scott, District Superior of the SSPX for the USA, June 2000

- 1 -

The tragedies of this Holy Year keep increasing, such as last month’s events -  the Pope’s attendance at a rock concert, and the listing of certain non-Catholics as witnesses of faith. These are latest in the series of betrayals of the oneness of the Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation. Truly this year is much more of a 35 year jubilee celebration of Dignitatis Humanae’s humanist glorification of the dignity of the human person, of Unitatis Redintegratio’s promotion of false ecumenism, and of Gaudium et spes’s embracing of the friendship with the world, called by St. James “enmity with God” (James 4:4), than it is the 2,000 year Jubilee anniversary of the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God, upon which our salvation depends.

This must not, however, prevent us from celebrating this anniversary in the Catholic way, and for this reason I ask for your prayers for the success of the pilgrimage of Tradition to Rome in August, that we might not only obtain the Indulgences and graces that we request for ourselves and for our families, but that, as a consequence, the Catholic spirit might greatly redound upon the whole family of Tradition.

However, there is another intention for which I would like to ask your prayers in these times of great urgency. We all know that it is no human means that will bring to an end the crisis of Faith that we are presently living. If we persevere in our combat, it is not because we think that our small numbers, or outspoken words in defense of Catholic dogma, or even our few merits, are capable of bringing about the end of the crisis. It is because we have Faith, in Almighty God, in His Providence, in His Divine Son, in the indefectible Catholic Church, and in the ever-fertile channel of graces which nourishes the Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is because we have absolute confidence, engendered by our infallible Faith, that God will never abandon all this.

God, in his perfect Wisdom, did provide us with a supernatural means, which could have prevented this whole crisis of disbelief, and which not having been listened to, could at least be an effective remedy to it. It is the devotion of these last times, the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. A simpler means could not have been given to the Church by heaven, but it was refused for the same reason that Naaman wanted to refuse washing himself seven times in the Jordan river; namely the unwillingness to believe that God can bring about such a total change, if only we believe in Him, or at least the failure to overcome human respect so as to employ such a simple means, expressive of the oneness of the true Church. In this case, the authorities of the Church have not yet been able to bring themselves to believe that Russia can convert and stop spreading its atheistic apostasy from God, or if they believe it they have not yet had the courage to overcome human respect and make a consecration which would be nothing short of a direct condemnation of atheistic materialism, the philosophy behind both communism and capitalism, as also a direct condemnation of the schism of the Russian orthodox church.

If the apparitions at Fatima have certainly had a profound impact on the Church, and have indeed obtained many graces for those of us who strive to accomplish the communions of reparation on First Saturdays, and even for the Church as a whole (where would we be without them?), there can be no doubt that the graces promised by Our Lady have not yet been granted, namely the conversion of Russia and the time of peace, which will necessarily be a part of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The reason is simple. Our Lady’s requests, no more complicated than washing seven times in the Jordan, have not yet been fulfilled. It was Pope Pius XII who in 1942, the 25^th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Aware that he had not yet fulfilled Our Lady’s request, he consecrated Russia to her Immaculate Heart 10 years later, in 1952, but alone, without the other bishops of the world, and without the solemn and public act that Our Lady had requested.

- 2 -

When Pope John-Paul II visited Fatima in 1982, he consecrated once more the world to Mary, without mentioning Russia one time, nor even explicitly speaking of the Immaculate Heart, and without requiring the union of all the world’s bishops. It was this same act of consecration that was renewed in Rome on March 25, 1984. Although the world’s bishops were invited to renew this act together with him, there was again no explicit mention either of Russia or of the Immaculate Heart, and it was nothing more than a renewal of the consecration of the world originally done by Pius XII in 1942, but this time without the specific mention of the Immaculate Heart, symbol of the perfect love of Mary’s virginal heart, to which reparation is due on account of her perfect oneness with Her Divine Son in accomplishing together with Him the work of our Redemption.

However, there is now another possible occasion, and it is not at all forbidden for us to pray that the miracle of the consecration as requested by the Blessed Mother be finally accomplished. John Paul II has announced that on Sunday October 8, when the world’s bishops are gathered for the Bishops’ Jubilee in Rome, they will together make an act of consecration of the Church and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in front of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

There is as yet no intention to make the true consecration requested by Our Lady, namely that of Russia, to her Immaculate Heart, together with the world’s bishops. But what an opportune moment! Is it not possible for the Holy Ghost to change their plans, and to inspire the true consecration, especially if He was able to bring about the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, and the promise of the release of the Third Secret this year?  He is only waiting our cooperation to help bring about this miracle. And since it would certainly be a miracle of the supernatural order if this were to happen, let us not attempt to obtain it with natural means, such as petitions, letters and requests to a hierarchy that has consistently shown its indifference to the supernatural order. Prayer alone will obtain this grace for the Church and for the world, and consequently for Tradition, in which the Church’s supernatural life is lived. 

I would consequently ask all of you, between now and October 8, to offer up a decade of your daily Rosary for this intention, and also to offer the Leonine prayers, which are recited after low Mass, for this intention. Did not Pope Leo XIII command that they be recited in the first place, by a special prophetic insight, for the conversion of Russia, and have we not forgotten this?

If we are curious as to why it is that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the key to the supernatural order, and why God requires of us reparation to His Mother’s heart, the answer lies in the close union that it has with His own Sacred Heart.

- 3 -

As we enter this month consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us be grateful that Archbishop Lefebvre wanted the Society of Saint Pius X to be especially devoted and consecrated to the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary. For where else is a remedy to be sought, as Pope Pius XII put it, “in the face of so many evils which today more than ever deeply disturb individuals, homes, nations and the whole world” (Haurietis aquas, May 15, 1956)? If we can all identify with the evils of the modern world, that he understood so well, we must also all accept the answer to his question, which he gives under the form of another question: “Is there a devotion more excellent than that to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one which is more in accord with the real nature of the Catholic Faith, one which better meets the needs of the Church and the human race today? What act of religion is nobler, more suitable, sweeter, and more conducive to salvation, since this devotion is wholly directed to the love of God Himself?” (Ibid.) 

Pius XII then goes on to explain how much his memorable act of consecration of the Church and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “is in perfect accord with devotion to the Sacred Heart”, for Christ’s love, by which he accomplished the work of our redemption, was intimately united with the love and sorrows of His Mother. “It is”, he says, “highly fitting that after due homage has been paid to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Christian people, who have obtained divine life from Christ through Mary, manifest for the most loving heart of our heavenly Mother similar affections of devotion, love and a spirit of gratitude and expiation”.

We cannot afford to be indifferent to these two hearts, which are the channel of love which opens up to us the mysteries of the Church, the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament, and which consequently open up your families to the presence of divine Love, true charity, through the love of the Cross. For what could be more perfect than Mary’s love of God, Her Divine Son? What love could be of more ardent gratitude and more profound humility, could be more devoted, tender, eager, sacrificial? What love of Christ’s mystical body, the Church, the Mass and the Blessed Eucharist, could be more superabundant than Mary’s? The necessity and urgency of devotion and reparation to the Immaculate Heart lie consequently in the inseparable union that exists between these two hearts.

If every year at this time, I urge you to enthrone your families and your homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I request it one more time. For this ceremony, which enthrones the Sacred Heart of King of Love over your family, also gives you the opportunity to consecrate yourselves and your families to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that by her prayerful intercession, and by your tender devotion to her, she might reign over your families.

- 4 -

Our priests could think of no greater honor than to perform this ceremony, provided that you are truly willing to live a life of love and reparation to the Sacred Heart, keeping the commandments of God, excluding the spirit of the world, and being faithful to your daily prayers and Rosary in family.  What a blessing to offer your daily troubles, duties, difficulties, your family life as a whole, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who of all creatures is the only one who perfectly loved the Sacred Heart.

Let none of you who have not yet consecrated your own families and homes to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary complain that the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart has not been accomplished. Surely this would be hypocritical. Nothing could be so powerful a prayer to bring about the consecration of Russia than that many generous souls and families would truly offer themselves to belong in entirety to the Blessed Mother. What a reparation for the spirit of independence and rebellion of the modern world! What a reparation for the impurity, greed and despising of God’s commandments that we see all around us!

It is my hope and prayer that we might all participate in some small way in this movement of love, reparation and belonging to the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary, in order to obtain the unspeakable grace of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.

Yours faithfully in the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

Father Peter R. Scott